Calm Before the Storm
by VoidedCorvid
Summary: When a threat from the Moon lures a single guardian out to fight, that battle must be fought alone.


It was cold…. then again, when wasn't it on the moon.

Zendril made his way through the dark and dusty caverns of the moon, eyes alert, watching for anything that might attack. But all was silent. Odd.

"Something's up," the warlock whispered to his ghost, "It's never this quiet here." His ghost didn't reply, but he could feel her nervousness as if it were his own. The moon was never friendly to either of them before. Zendril shuddered as his mind flashed with memories of his time lost in the deep caverns of the Hellmouth. They should have never gone that deep. Even with no enemies in sight he could not shake the feeling of being watched.

"Maybe we should just leave," the ghost murmured, "There is nothing here, maybe it was a bluff?"

Zendril shook his head. "No, I know Talir, or Rergok as he calls himself now. If he would threaten the city to get me here, there is no way that this would be anything but the truth. As truthful as his word could be." His ghost let out a sigh, "If you say so, but I still don't like it." "When do you ever like situations like these," Zendril thought as he continued to the temple, footsteps light on the Moon's pale, dusty surface.

After a while the Temple of Crota came into sight. It felt different, darker than normal, it made him shudder uncomfortably. Still no sign of any life. There usually are hive guarding the entrance. "Are we really doing this," the guardian's ghost asked, her voice as uncertain as she felt the heavy press of the darkness. Zendril looked to the ghost beside him, about to reply, when the sound of shifting rocks caught his attention. He whipped around sidearm in hand, eyes locking with the source of the noise…

"Kiro?! What are you doing here?"

Before him was none other than Kiro-7, the titan standing a little ways away, helmet shielding his expression. "I thought it would be obvious," the exo said. "I heard the announcement, and the city is under evacuation protocol. I figured you'd be here..." Zendril couldn't believe that this was happening. He could always rely on the titan to be for him till the very end, but this was neither the time or place. The awoken warlock sighed, "No Kiro, go back to the tower,you should be there just in case something does happen. The city is more important than a single guardian."

Kiro was taken aback, he had every right to be, Zendril was finally beginning to feel somewhat at peace with everything that's happened to him. But it would seem that Rergok's return allowed for his demons to resurface, darker than before. The exo started towards Zendril, " Don't talk like that, every guardian is precious to the city, including you. Besides the city has thousands of guardians protecting her already, you only have one.

Zendril didn't like what Kiro was implying.The warlock turned away from his companion, closing his eyes, the silence growing between them. "I can't let you go down there, at least not alone," Kiro said, breaking the silence, "You'll be safer with someone watching your back." Zendril scoffed at that, "I'll never be safe as long as he is still out here, no one will be safe, even you." Silence grew. "Zendril, please I can help you, we take him down to-."

Kiro was cut off by the sound of the crackling flames on the warlock's hands and the snarl at his lips. "And what, Kiro? Watch him drain your light, kill you, torture you? Watch your cold, dead body hit the ground like Elizabeth's? Because I'm not going to let that happen," the warlock said, surprised that the trembling in his hands hadn't reached his voice. "I will not be responsible for your death, especially if it could have been prevented. I will not, can not lose you." The titan was taken aback by the awoken's words, he was never this open about his emotions. "You could have taken someone else with you, like Thiraa or another member of the firetea-" Zendril cut him off again, "I couldn't do that, if something happened to her or Rena I would never forgive myself. They mean so much to each other. And I couldn't take Elijah, Traveler forbid if he were to perish, nothing would be able to hold Sephira back." Kiro remained silent, sensing that there was more that needed to be said. "I have to do this alone," he repeated, voice finally starting to waver, "I have to do this, to protect the city, the tower, Rena, Thiraa, Elijah… you. Please just…," Zendril didn't trust his voice anymore, this was more emotion than he was used to. He stood there silent, hoping that Kiro would leave.

He heard the shuffle of feet on the ground as Kiro started to close the gap between them, the titan's light brushing up against his own. "I understand." Zendril's eyes snapped open as he slowly turned his head towards the exo behind him, he hadn't expected that. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to leave you here alone." There's the stubbornness he was looking for. He was about to protest when the titan's hand stopped him. "I'll stay close by, if anything goes wrong, contact me." The warlock stayed silent, it became overly apparent that Kiro was not going to leave. A sigh left his lips, "Fine, just one more thing." Zendril summoned his ghost, " You will stay behind," he said to the ghost floating beside him.

"What?!"

"You'll be staying here. No, listen, there is no reason for both of us to be lost if I die, live on and don't let Kiro do anything stupid," Zendril said with a smirk as his ghost began to protest. His ghost wanted to argue, to tell Zendril how stupid he was being; but it wouldn't help his mind was made up. Amethyst floated back towards Kiro and hovered behind him. The titan was silent, processing all that was said, and fighting the surge of emotion that threatened to consume him.

Kiro started when he felt a hand grasp the back of his neck and pulled him forward. Zendril pulled their helmets together until they were touching. It had become somewhat of a ritual that they do. They would bump their helmets against each other's as a silent goodbye and a promise to come back, and it kept Zendril grounded when his demons would come back to haunt him.

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, it wasn't long enough. Zendril let go, the warlock turning to make his way down to the temple. His figure growing smaller as walked farther away. The warlock came to a stop in front of the giant entrance to the temple, repressing a shudder as the doors slowly opened with an ominous sound. He took a deep breath and started into the temple. As the doors were closing behind him, he heard a voice soft and faint.

"Be safe,"


End file.
